


Pet Names, Darling

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Blushing, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Pet Names, Seto Kaiba is a Dumb Gay, Shyness, Yami Yuugi | Atem has his own body
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 12:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19085341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Seto Kaiba is sick and tired of being the only one blushing in this relationship dammit!Or: Five Times Atem Makes Kaiba Blush And One Time Kaiba Gets Him Back





	Pet Names, Darling

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt Monday: Blushing
> 
> Imi-ib = "Heart of my heart"  
> Meri = "Love"

One thing Seto had never expected when he and Atem became a couple was the sheer amount of pet names that flooded out of the pharaoh's mouth at nearly every second of every day

Only a few of them were annoying, most of them were actually ... _nice_

Not that he would ever admit that to Atem, ofcourse, but still

The other thing he hadn't expected was just how _red_ he had a tendency to turn after being called by one of the aforementioned pet names

Seto wasn't exactly big on blushing....... with anyone _except_ Atem

Anyone else could launch into a full on porn scene right in front of him and he'd do nothing more than roll his eyes and, if available, spray them with a water hose

But that was it

No blushing, no heart flutters, no nervousness

With Atem, however, all it took was a little _"Good morning sweetheart,"_ or _"Sorry baby,"_ and he was more red than a cherry

And apparently it wasn't even the Killing Eve reference that did it to him

Seto couldn't even get up in the mornings without that damn pharaoh doing or saying _something_ that brought out the redness in his cheeks, but that wasn't even the worst part

No, the worst part was that, evidently, _nothing_ could do the same back to Atem

He was absolutely and entirely blush-proof

Seto had breifly considered that, perhaps, he _did_ blush, but Seto just didn't notice it because of his boyfreind's darker complexion, Seto himself was as pale as a ghost so _ofcourse_ even the tiniest blood rush would look like a damn _sunburn_ compared to Atem's soft tawny complexion, but even if that were the case, wouldn't he have still shown _some_ signs of nervousness? Stuttering or eyes getting bigger or fidgeting or... _something_!?

The sheer and total lack of it was Seto's proof that he was, in fact, blush-proof

And Seto aimed to _shatter_ that non-blushing sheild if it was the last thing he did

 

**I.**

 

"Good morning starshine,"

Ah hell... even with the corniest pet names, Seto's face was still turning red, he could feel the heat rising to his skin and the little grin that pressed over Atem's lips as he watched- a clear indicator if no other that he was turning the same shade of a dragonfruit

Deciding to begin his plan, Seto reached out and gently placed his palm against Atem's cheek, stroking his thumb against it and staring deeply into his eyes

"Good morning to you too, my beloved beauty,"

Wait for it.. wait for it......

_Damn_

Atem only smiled, his eyes soft and warm, his cheek the same temperature it started and absolutely no sign at all that he was feeling even the tiniest bit shy

"Beloved beauty hm? Well someone must have had a good dream,"

Atem leaned over, pressed a kiss to Seto's forehead, and wispered something to him in his language- a language Seto still barely understood a word of- before pressing a few more kisses down the side of his face

"Come on, my sweet, let's go take a shower,"

... Ah great, Seto had officially gone from "dragonfruit" to "tomato"

 

**II.**

 

A little known fact: Seto loves to cook

He's not bad at it either, he had picked up the skill several years ago when Gozaburo was still around and had been slowly getting better at it ever since

Atem, on the other hand, absolutely sucked at cooking

It was one of the few things that he was truly bad at and Seto never wasted an opportunity to remind him of that

"Oooh, what have we here? You're cooking tonight? What a pleasant surprise," Atem grinned as he approached his boyfreind, wrapping both arms around his waist and hugging Seto close as peered over at the pot Seto was stirring on the stove

"I guess someone had a pretty good day at work then, did you my darling boy?"

Ah, and there it was, his face starting to turn pink

"I did, remember the deal I was trying to get with Universal?"

"Mmm... for the haunted house thing in October? Yes I remember," Atem nodded, letting go long enough to move to Seto's side, hoping for a better look at whatever he was cooking

"Yes, not only did I get the deal, but I got a higher royalty than I originally expected and a tentative contract to make more VR experiences for them if this one goes over well, they'll test out the Purge game I'm working on now here in their Tokyo location, and if it goes well, they'll roll it out internationally,"

"Wow... that sounds amazing!"

"Thank you, I wanted to celebrate with you, since you're the one who's been inspiring me to keep going when things have gotten frustrating, so I decided to cook something for you,"

"Really? Seto that -.... that's so sweet... you didn't have to..."

Oh good, his voice was thinning, getting quieter, emotional... now was the time to _hit_

"Oh but I did," Seto smirked, dipping a spoon into the pot below to gather some of the sauce he was making and holding it out for Atem to taste

"I wanted to show you how much you mean to me, you're the light of my life, Atem, my moon and stars, I wanted to show you my appreciation, _Sunshine_ ,"

He watched.... and felt nothing but frustration as Atem only "Aww"d happily and took the spoon for a taste, his eyes going wide, his face lighting up and his face tinting a slightly darker shade...

It was a blush by all technicality but it wasn't the blush he was looking for

"This is amazing Seto!! Mmm... such a shame you didn't become a professional chef instead... you would have been incredible, my sweet boy,"

And now Seto was turning as red as his sauce

_Dammit_!!

 

**III.**

 

Seto inhaled sharply, forcing himself to blink awake as he pushed himself away from the desk, biting down hard on his tongue in an attempt to force a little more awakeness back into his body

He was so exhausted that he was nearly shaking, but he couldn't sleep yet

He couldn't just go back upstairs to bed, where Atem was surely sleeping by now

He had to keep going, he had a deadline and he knew that if he didn't finish this design proof by tonight, everything would be delayed, he had no way to finish approving it in the morning before work, not with a seven A.M. meeting to go to

Reaching desperately for his coffee, he leaned back in his chair and brought the cup to his mouth... only to find with disappointment that it was empty

Damn....

Well, that was fine, the trip to the kitchen would do him well, it would help him wake up if he got up and moved around, turned on some brighter lights so his eyes would get a bit of a shock, it would be _fine_

However, just as he was preparing to push himself up and head out of the office, his door creaked open, and he glanced up at a very tired, mildly annoyed looking pharaoh

"Seto, why in the gods' names are you still awake?"

"Design proofing,"

"Can't you do that tommorrow?"

"Has to be in by noon, otherwise production will be delayed a day and we won't get the gurantee for October, meaning we won't be able to keep our release da-"

"I know I know," Atem grumbled, rubbing his likely sore eyes as he reluctantly trudged forward and stared down at his boyfreind

"What about the morning?"

"Seven A.M. meeting,"

Atem hummed discontentedly, clearly not needing to hear more than that

"Can't Mokuba take your place in the meeting instead though?"

Actually, Seto hadn't thought about it before, but yes, he supposed he could

"Yes, but I real-"

"Then Mokuba can take the meeting, you can spend that time working on the approval, and you can rest in bed with me wile you do it, problem solved,"

"But-"

"Problem solved,"

"You can't-"

"Problem solved,"

"Atem-"

" _Problem. Solved._ "

Clearly, Seto was getting nowhere with this

"Now turn your computer off and come to bed baby,"

Feeling the all too familiar sensation of his face beginning to heat up, he reluctantly obeyed, saving his work and turning the computer off before sluggishly lifting out of the desk chair and trudging towards the door

"As you wish, _master_ ," he huffed, wondering in the back of his mind if perhaps _that_ would do anything to spark a blush from the pharaoh

"Ooh, master huh?"

Given that tone? Probably not

And then Atem's hand was on his lower back... then drifting down lower to his ass and giving it a squeeze as they walked

" _Good boy_ ,"

....... Well, Seto was certainly awake _now_

 

**IIII.**

 

In retrospect, Seto really never should have let Atem watch American Gods

Not because of the graphic sex, not because of the references to his religion- wich Atem actually said were treated quite nicely- not even because he wouldn't stop talking about it, but because he had picked up a new pet name because of it

"Oh! Did you bring the mail in Puppy?"

Seto truly didn't know what bothered him about that pet name more- the fact that Atem was using it at all, or the fact that he was actually beginning to _like_ it

All the same though, he tried to hide his blush and cleared his throat, plopping the mail down on top of the counter in front of the pharaoh, who was currently washing off some strawberries

"Yes, _kitten_ , there's a package for you,"

Atem was, ofcourse, unphased

Seto wasn't surprised, he hadn't exactly meant to be trying to make him blush this time anyway

"Oh good!" Atem grinned, drying his hands off and picking up the box

"What's in there anyway?"

"Oh just something special for my beautifull puppy,"

... _Dammit_....

He was turning even darker...

Eyes narrowing, Seto suddenly marched forward, lifted Atem up, and set him on the counter, gently but firmly cupping his face and staring deeply into his lover's eyes

"I love you more than words could ever express, more than I love anything else in my life, more than the sun loves the moon or the gods love ... whatever the hell gods love, I love you with a love that is more than a love, you are my treasure, my greatest gift, you are everything I could have ever wanted and more than I could have ever hoped for, I love you, my darling,"

For a moment, Atem was quiet, and Seto had really started to believe that he had gotten him.....

Until the pharaoh merely leaned over and gave him a long, slow kiss on the lips, cupping Seto's face and pressing their foreheads together gently

"I love you too, my dargon-heart,"

... _DAMMIT!!!!_

 

**V.**

 

"I can't take this anymore, I'm going to go crazy, I can't stand being the constant blushing bride in this relationship! Sooner or later I'm going to _EXPLODE_ if I don't make him blush too,"

Slowly, Yugi sipped on his drink and stared blankly forward at the panicking CEO in front of him

"So what you're saying is that you can't stand feeling so incredibly loved and adored if you aren't making Atem feel the same way?"

"That's right,"

"Wow, that's ... actually kind of sweet of you Kaiba,"

"Great, now will you help me?"

"What makes you think I even know how to make Atem blush to begin with?" Yugi asked, eyebrows raised as he took a bite into one of the cookies Seto had baked for him

"Because you shared a mind with the man for two years, you know _everything_ about him and his emotional and mental states, you must know SOMETHING,"

Yugi nodded slowly, appearing contemplative as he swallowed the bite of his food

"Well, there is ONE thing that I can almost completely gurantee will turn him redder than a cherry,"

"Tell me,"

Yugi leaned across the table, wispering the potential magic solution into Seto's ear, and just as he was finishing up-

"Oh! Yugi, I didn't know you were here!" Atem grinned, stepping into the house and immediately running over to his partner to give him a hug

"Are you staying for dinner?"

"I can, if you don't mind, I had just stopped by to talk to Seto about work but-"

"Oh I'd love if you stayed! We're going to have pizza, aren't we darling?"

Seto blinked, face flushing pink as he stared up at his boyfreind

"Y-Yes,"

"Good! I shall return soon, unfortunately my allergies are acting up and I need to take some medicine, perhaps we can play a game of checkers when I return, Yugi?"

"Sure thing," Yugi smiled peacefully, waving as Atem rushed off towards the stairs, leaving Yugi and Seto to themselves once again

"You blushed at _darling_? ... I'm starting to see why you need this so badly,"

Seto groaned, crashing his head into his arms miserably

"No shit,"

 

**I.**

 

The next morning when Atem woke up, Seto had _quite_ the little surprise to greet him with

"Good morning my love," Atem yawned, leaning over to kiss Seto's nose sweetly

Seto smiled adoringly, staring at his partner in the low morning light and combing his fingers through his hair affectionately

"Good morning to you too, _imi-ib_ ,"

There it was

That was it

Atem's eyes grew wide, his mouth opening, his face heating up and turning a lovely russet bronze

A blush...

Seto had done it

He'd done it!!!

"W-Where did you learn that word, sweetheart?"

"Oh, a little birdie told me, _meri_ ,"

Atem groaned and smushed his face into Seto's shoulder, and Seto felt like the entire world had opened up before him

Atem's face was _burning_

Ok, so Seto blushed at every single pet name Atem could come up with... in Japanese

But in ancient Egyptian? Atem was just as blushy as he was


End file.
